In a message dated 1/13/07 10:24:36 AM, [log in to unmask] writes:


> When it comes to chittlins, I am inclined to agree with... um... the
> English on this one...
>
> But then, there's the traditional Scottish haggis, if you've ever
> read an old recipe for it, they didn't waste any part of the animals,
> ether. It was even boiled in a sheep's stomach, with the stomach
> opening out the side of the pan and out from under the lid, to let
> the steam out. But my guess is that sheep are herbivores and
> "cleaner", but pigs, being omnivores, are far smellier, and their
> intestines were probably also pretty stinky. I lived in Smithfield,
> believe me, pig waste can get pretty foul.
>
> Nancy
>
> -------
>

Dear Nancy:
I am with you on this one.   Ah chittlins'....   I have not so fond
remembrances of my encounters with the entrails as a child.   It seems that my parents
loved them but I could not stomach the smell or sight of them.   I would
usually exit the house when they were cooking and do my best to avoid coming in
till dark.    With depression era parents and always being  encouraged to belong
to the "clean plate club", I was supposed to finish everything on my plate.
One night they had exclusively prepared chittlins' with nothing else on the
menu and I sat for 2-3 hours in the dark refusing to touch them.     My parents
finally relented and from then on always cooked some hamburger for me when
they ate them.   I still had to clean up the pots after they were cooked which
was just as bad as eating them imho.   I also avoid hog maws too, in my mind,
food has to SMELL good to taste good.   I haven't ventured to try them as an
adult but I am probably in the minority of black folks who disllike them and plan
on staying in the minority, lol!

Anita L. Henderson

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